Makedonas

After making the semifinals, Prevolaraki lost 3 bouts in a row I still think she will make it to Paris though

Wrestling +1 Georgios Kougioumtsidis (men's -74 kg)

Azerbaijan is probably the worst, not just talking about wrestling either. They won 7 medals in Tokyo, only 2 of them were from athletes actually born in Azerbaijan. In Rio they won 17 medals, only 5 from athletes born in Azerbaijan...

Thank you, I know you've also said in the past that you are impressed with him I'm glad he can make his first Olympics, and at 21 yo (he'll be 22 in Paris) he will surely be one of the youngest wrestlers there. Of course we also had Pilidis compete in Tokyo as a 21 yo and now he no longer competes in wrestling (though I have a feeling he will return to the sport one day), so I don't want to get my hopes up too much. Also Kougioumtsidis until now was competing in 79 kg, and he wanted to move up to 86 kg to make the Olympics but our federation decided it was a better idea to have Kurugliev who is clearly not Greek, so Kougioumtsidis had to lose weight and go down to 74 kg, meanwhile Kurugliev is injured and still doesn't have Greek citizenship anyways...so I'm glad it worked out for him in the end because our federation should really be working to protect our best male wrestler instead of giving priority to foreigners. Maybe we wouldn't have to naturalise anyone if they start treating our own talents better...

Yes, it is one of the main tourist attractions in Athens but also there are events there sometimes, like the annual marathon, or some concerts etc. There are talks of doing an ATP tournament there, they can fit three courts inside, and it is walking distance from the Athens Lawn Tennis Club which in the past has hosted ATP/WTA tournaments (in the 1980s and 1990s) and an ATP Challenger in 2008 and 2009, so they can use those courts as well.

It's impressive that they did it without Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov. Then again, considering how poorly both have played this year, maybe this was the only chance for them to qualify

How does it work, because in 2019 everyone who lost the bronze medal match qualified and there were 6 quota places, but now with only 5, do they do a 5th place match or whoever lost to the gold medal winner is considered 5th?

I have a question, if Kougioumtsidis loses his bronze medal match he can still be 5th and get the Olympic quota?

Congrats for the win @hckošice Tsitsipas seemed too tired in the end, he had to play many long matches the last two days, Slovakia is a much better team overall and they deserved the win. I also expected more spectators, and I think it might've happened if we played at night instead. It was very hot to sit out in the sun all day, and it's a shame because tickets were actually quite inexpensive. Also we might've done better at night because the temperature is cooler, so maybe Stefanos wouldn't have been as tired after that long doubles match and then singles right after Also I think there wasn't much interest from the Greek public. When we played against your other country, Ecuador, earlier this year, we had bigger crowds despite snow that day (obviously we played indoors) because it was a few days after Stefanos played in the Australian Open final. Now, he lost in the second round at the US Open and is being unfairly criticised a lot by the public these days for not winning any Grand Slam, and many Greeks gave up on him and stopped supporting him, because we have a country full of negative, miserable people who only care about athletes and teams when they are winning I am proud that he put our country on the tennis map, as a teenager he was already our best male tennis player of all time (of those who actually represented Greece) and still the only to make the top 100 ranking and he got up to number 3 and is currently number 5, but it's never enough to please some people because he doesn't win as much as Djokovic and Alcaraz...Also let's not forget how many top 10 players skipped Davis Cup this week, but Stefanos almost always shows up, even though he is playing in Canada next week and was in USA last week, it's not an easy trip for a few days but I am proud to have someone dedicated to their national team and I wish more Greeks appreciate that, we are very lucky to have someone like him! When his career is over they will regret not appreciating him...

I was wondering about that but too lazy to research myself, so thanks for that info! While we have regressed in many sports in recent years, shooting is one of the few where we have actually improved a lot, so I'm glad we are seeing the results of this. Still hoping to get 1-2 more quotas. My prediction from last year was that we would have 3-7 shooters in Paris, so it's looking good.

They will go ahead but in a different city on the other side of the country. A lot of people are complaining but it was either this or nothing.

Hey @OlympicsFan I honestly have to ask, why are you always so rude to everyone and so negative? Is this how you really are in life, or it is an act? Would it kill you to be kind sometimes? I always see you arguing with people here and calling them words like "stupid." Is it really necessary? We are all friendly here and should get along with each other, there is no need to behave like this in my opinion. Trust me, everyone else is also thinking what I am saying to you right now. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and there should be a level of respect for that. Also you are not always "correct," just remember your unprovoked meltdown about Tentoglou and Greek athletics when he won gold in Tokyo, well it seems you have been proven wrong since then, no?

Are you sure about this? Perhaps the rules have changed but for Rio we qualified a LM4- via the final regatta. The athletes we used there were Giannaros, Karamitros, Ntouskos, and Petrou. In Rio, we used Giannaros, Magdanis, Ntouskos, and Petrou. So Magdanis, who competed in M1X at the final regatta and failed to qualify, found himself replacing Karamitros in LM4- at the Olympic Games. The other reason could be that we finished 3rd at the final regatta, but it was later revealed (in late July) that one of the Russian athletes was doping, so they got disqualified and their quota place was reallocated to us at the last minute, so maybe they made an exception for us if Karamitros was injured or taking a break or something?

According to @Adriano the rules have changed since Tokyo and Italy can still get that quota via rankings.

Great to see Chalkiadakis get a gold medal for us, usually it's either Mitas or Mavrommatis doing something in the men's skeet, so this is a nice surprise! I wonder how the selection will go, as Mitas is world champion and Chalkiadakis is European champion, it will be hard to remove them so Mavrommatis or Gkogkolakis can compete. Now we have qualified 5 shooters for Paris, a big success considering we only had 2 in Tokyo. Of course there is still a chance to add 1-2 more, maybe Chatzitsakiroglou can do it here as well After we won so many medals at the World Championships this year, and now this, my only fear is that we won't be able to replicate this in Paris

5-0 win for us vs Gibraltar, the most goals we have scored in a match since 2009

Ποιες είναι οι προβλέψεις σας για το 2024; Όσον αφορά την Όλυμπιακή πρόκριση, θεωρώ ότι θα στέλνουμε περίπου 20-30 αθλητές στο Παρίσι (είχαμε 23 στο Λονδίνο, 25 στο Ρίο, και 20 στο Τόκιο). Οι σίγουροι (αυτοί που έχουν ήδη προκριθεί): Men: Long Jump-Tentoglou Pole Vault-Karalis Women: 20km walk-Drisbioti Στις ρίψεις, πιστεύω σίγουρα θα προκριθούν οι Αναστασάκης, Φραντζεσκάκης, Τζένγκο και Σκαρβέλη. Επίσης θα έχουν ελπίδες οι Μουζενίδης, Ζάλτος, Κυριαζής, Κοσμίδου, και Αναγνωστοπούλου (ήταν έγκυος φέτος). Στα άλματα πιστεύω ότι επίσης είναι σίγουρο ότι η Στεφανίδη θα προκριθεί. Επίσης θα έχουν ευκαιρίες να προκριθούν (λογικά μέσω ράνκινγκ) οι Πολακ, Κυριακοπούλου, Πανταζής, Τσιάμης, Ανδρικόπουλος, Γκούσιν, Δόση, Καρύδη, και Μέρλος. Στα εμπόδια έχουμε τον Δουβαλίδη, την Γναφακη, την Πεσιρίδου, και την Καραγιάννη, όλοι με πιθανότητες. Στα σπριντ πιστεύω σίγουρα θα βρεθεί στο Παρίσι η Πολυνίκη (όνομα και πράγμα!) Εμμανουηλίδου. Ίσως και να δούμε και αλλά κορίτσια (Σπανουδάκη, Αναστασίου, Τσουκαλά) είτε σε ατομικά αγωνίσματα, είτε και σε σκυτάλη. Στα αγωνίσματα βάδην, πιστεύω θα έχουμε συνολικά 4 αθλητές (τον Παπαμιχαήλ, την Ντρισμπιώτη, και 2 από τις Φιλιτσάκου/Παπαδοπούλου/Τσινόπουλου στο Παρίσι. Επίσης, δεν είναι απίθανο να υπάρχουν κάποιες εκπλήξεις (πχ Ντραγκομίροβα, Βασιλείου, Δεσπολλάρη, Φιλιππίδου, Ρίζος, Τσίτσος, Παυλίδης, Νυφαντόπουλος κτλ.

It will be interesting to see if the successful countries from this regatta like Romania and the Netherlands will try to get a full team!

And now it looks like they won't be held in September, as they are supposed to be next weekend but there is severe flooding in the city where they are supposed to take place...

The thing is, some countries have rowers from the eights also competing in other boats. For example the Romanian women have their women's pair and women's four combine for the eights (they just add two other rowers and the cox). So in the end these quotas don't add up sometimes.

recap: M1X: We all hoped that Ntouskos could win a medal, so it was disappointing that he came in 4th (and missed the podium by 0.13s after a photo finish), but he is clearly in a good condition and it's safe to say he is a contender for the podium in Paris. He is now qualified for his third Olympics despite being only 26 yo (obviously he will be 27 in Paris). W2-: There was a lot of drama with this boat because we had the Kyridou sisters vs Anastasiadou/Bourmpou (if we had a proper federation, they would've organized our crews so that all four girls get in a boat somewhere...), but no matter what we knew we would get the Olympic quota and we did, with out 7th place finish. These girls are only 22 and 21, so it's a very strong result for them in a competitive boat class. It will be interesting to see how much they can improve, as they only started rowing together in June, and Anastasiadou is a lightweight sculler at 165cm who previously never competed in sweep events but she is really holding her own. I think they are also medal contenders for Paris. LW2X: Not much to say here but they were a disappointment. 12th place is not bad but really not representative of their abilities. These girls won European Championships and World Cup medals together earlier this year, so we definitely expected that they would qualify here. Of course it is a very competitive boat class so you never know what can happen, and Kontou is only 17 yo so she is clearly inexperienced (though she made the A Final in this event last year with Anastasiadou as a 16 yo). Hopefully takes the quota at the European regatta, and then we will battle with the Olympic medalists and for the two remaining Olympic tickets in Lucerne...and of course there is also as outsiders who will be at home... LM2X: Similar to LW2X, another disappointment to get 13th place as they also won European Championships and World Cup medals together earlier this year. It will be a big battle in Lucerne between many teams to get the last two Olympic tickets, but I think and will be the favourites... M2X: Very very disappointing season for Kalandaridis/Palaiopanos. They got 19th at the World Championships after being 6th last year. One of them was injured so they did not train much together since last year, hopefully they can be healthy and ready to go for Lucerne but it's going to be very difficult. Also I do not know if the federation will keep them together or try some other rowers/boats and mix things up. W2X: It was their first time together, both girls are very young (20 yo Fragkou and 17 yo Dalidou) but very successful at the U23 and U19 levels with many gold medals. They finished 19th of 19 crews, clearly not ready for this level, and I am not sure if we will see them again together in Lucerne or if we will have other combinations. Our federation is trying to act like this is some big success with the two quotas, but really it is laughable. In London and Rio we had 10 rowers each time, then just 4 and Tokyo and so far only 3 in Paris despite a lot of U23 and U19 success in the last 10 years or so. The Kyridou sisters and Tsamopoulou want to compete, and the federation must work with them to get them in boats, because all three would probably qualify in Lucerne if the federation gives them the opportunity. We could even try a W4- or W4X with the Kyridou sisters, Tsamopoulou, and Fragkou (all girls know how to scull and sweep so it's not a problem). It is going to be very difficult in Lucerne, it will be very competitive and hard to expect to qualify more than 1-2 boats realistically...

So the following countries will not be eligible for the European regatta: Croatia Czech Republic France Germany Great Britain Greece Ireland Italy Lithuania Netherlands Norway Romania Spain Switzerland Which means the favourites for quotas there will be: M1X: , , or maybe W1X: Russia and Belarus if they are allowed to compete, otherwise we could see , , or for example take someone from a different boat and put them in the single. LM2X: , , or possibly one of , , since Poland will be limited in how many quotas they can accept. LW2X: , , or maybe Of course we do not know if some nations will put someone in the single sculls from another boat which often happens, so that could change things up as well (for example M2X)

Another 4th place for Ntouskos. Perhaps he is thinking of switching citizenship to Canada?

Rowing +3 Evangelia Anastasiadou and Christina Bourmpou (women's pair) Stefanos Ntouskos (men's single sculls)